Cook and drain the spinach. Squeeze excess water from drained spinach.

In a large bowl, mix all ingredients thoroughly.

Chill at least 2 hours.

Roll into one inch balls.

At this point, you can freeze the croquettes on cookie sheets and keep the frozen appetizers in a plastic bag for several weeks.

Bake, thawed, at 300 degrees for 30 minutes.

Pear Pecan Toasts

Ingredients

10 oz. Roquefort cheese

¼ c. plus 1 tbsp heavy cream

15 slices thin white sandwich or French broad, crusts removed

2 Bartlett pears, thinly sliced into wedges

1/3 cup pecan halves, thinly sliced crosswise

Preheat the oven to 350 F. Place the cheese and the heavy cream in a small bowl. Using a fork or wooden spoon, combine until the mixture is soft enough to spread but not too runny. Set aside.

Cut the read in half crosswise, making rectangles that are about 3 x 1.5 inches. Transfer the rectangles to a baking sheet; toast in the oven until light golden on each side, about 15 minutes. Remove from the oven.

Spread 1 heaping tsp of the cheese mixture on each piece of bread. Top with a pear slice; garnish with the pecan slices. Serve at room temperature.

Cranberry Orange Tonic

Makes 12 servings.

Ingredients

1 cup sugar

1 cup water

4 rosemary sprigs

4 cups cranberry juice cocktail, chilled

2 cups orange juice, chilled

3 cups club soda, chilled

Combine sugar and water in a small saucepan; bring to a boil. Reduce heat, and simmer 4 minutes or until sugar dissolves. Add rosemary; simmer 5 minutes.

Remove from heat. Pour sugar syrup into a bowl; cover and refrigerate overnight.

Place one-third of squash mixture in a blender; process until smooth. Pour puréed mixture into a large bowl; repeat procedure with remaining squash mixture. Return squash mixture to pan; stir in half-and-half.

Cook over low heat 3 minutes or until thoroughly heated. Ladle soup into bowls, and garnish with pear slices.

Grease a large bowl; place the dough in the bowl, turning dough to grease all sides.

Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, 1 hour or until doubled in bulk.

Punch the dough down; turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead about 3 minutes.

Coat muffin pans (total of 24 cups) with cooking spray.

Divide dough into four equal portions. Each of those portions will yield 6 rolls. Divide each of those portions into 6 pieces, then make 3 little balls of dough from each of those 6 pieces. Place 3 balls of dough in each muffin cup.

Cover and let rise in a warm place, free from drafts, for 40 minutes or until doubled in bulk.

Bake at 400 degrees F for 12 to 15 minutes or until golden.

Herbed Goat Cheese Spread

Makes 2 cups

Ingredients

1 package (8 ounces) cream cheese, room temperature

1 package (11 ounces) goat cheese, room temperature

3/4 teaspoon coarse salt

1/4 teaspoon freshly ground pepper

4 teaspoons freshly squeezed lemon juice

3 tablespoons chopped fresh flat-leaf parsley

1 tablespoon chopped fresh tarragon

1 tablespoon chopped fresh dill

1 tablespoon snipped fresh chives

In the bowl of a food processor, process cream cheese and goat cheese together until creamy and well combined. Add salt, pepper, lemon juice, parsley, tarragon, dill, and chives; pulse until thoroughly combined, scraping down the sides of the bowl as needed. Transfer spread to an airtight container. Spread will keep, refrigerated, up to 2 days.

Cauliflower Soufflés over Baby Greens

Makes 12 mini-soufflés

Ingredients for the soufflés

4 tbsp unsalted butter (plus more for greasing the ramekins)

1 oz. Parmesan cheese, grated on the small holes of a box grater

2 1 ½ lb heads of cauliflower

6 tbsp all-purpose flour

2 c. hot milk

8 large egg yolks

5 oz. Maytag or other blue cheese, crumbled to 1 c.

1 tsp kosher salt

¼ tsp paprika

½ tsp freshly ground black pepper

½ tsp nutmeg

2 tsp minced fresh flat-leaf parsley

10 large egg whites

Ingredients for the salad

¼ c. red-wine vinegar

½ c. extra-virgin olive oil

Dijon mustard, to taste

Honey, to taste

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

10 oz. baby salad greens

Preheat the oven to 400 F. Butter 12 5-oz. ovenproof ramekins. Sprinkle the inside of each with the Parmesan. Arrange the ramekins, evenly spaced, in a baking pan. Set aside.

Cut the cauliflower into quarters; remove the center core and leaves. Thinly slice about 60 cauliflower florets vertically. Mince the remaining cauliflower to yield about 1 cup. Set aside.

In a medium saucepan over medium heat, melt 4 tbsp. butter. Whisk in the flour until it is cooked but not brown, about 2 minutes. Whisk in the hot milk until fully incorporated. Let cook 3 minutes. Whisk in the egg yolks, one at a time, until fully incorporated. Using a wooden spoon, stir in the cheese, salt, paprika, pepper and nutmeg, stirring constantly. Once the cheese has melted, stir in the reserved minced cauliflower and the parsley. Cook 2 minutes more. Transfer the mixture to a large mixing bowl. Set aside.

In the bowl of an electric mixer fitted with the whisk attachment, beat the egg whites on low speed until frothy, about 2 minutes. Increase speed to medium and beat 1 minute more. When the egg whites are foamy, increase speed to high, and beat just until they hold soft peaks; do not overbeat the egg whites. Using a large rubber spatula, lightly mix a third of the whites into the cheese mixture to lighten it. Fold in the remaining whites until just combined.

Fill each ramekin with ½ cup soufflé mixture, smooth the tops. Insert 4 or 5 of the thin cauliflower florets around the edges of each ramekin, poking the florets into the soufflé mixture with the ruffled edge up. Bake until the tops are golden brown and the mixture is set. 20 to 25 minutes.

Meanwhile, whisk vinegar and oil together until combined. Mix in mustard and honey. Season with salt and pepper. Toss salad greens with the vinaigrette. Just before serving, divide the salad evenly among 12 plates. Remove the soufflés from the oven. Use a kitchen towel to hold the ramekins, and invert the soufflés onto your hand, and then bottom-side down onto the plates with the salad. Serve warm.

Heat olive oil in a large ovenproof nonstick skillet over medium-high heat. Add pork; cook 4 minutes on each side or until browned.

Place pan in oven; cook pork at 400° for 12 minutes or until a meat thermometer registers 160° (slightly pink).

Place pork on a cutting board; keep warm.

To prepare sauce, add the chicken broth, dried cranberries, and juice to pan; bring to a boil, scraping pan to loosen browned bits. Stir in jam; cook 5 minutes, stirring occasionally. Dissolve cornstarch in a small amount of cold water and add to the sauce; continue to cook until sauce thickens (about 1 minute).

Cut the pork into (1/2-inch) slices. Serve with sauce.

Braised and Glazed Brussels Sprouts

Ingredients

3 T butter or olive oil

1 lb Brussels sprouts, trimmed

½ C or more vegetable stock, white wine, or water; more as needed

Salt and freshly ground pepper

Combine the butter, Brussels sprouts, and stock in a deep skillet with a tight-fitting lid. Sprinkle the Brussels sprouts with salt and pepper and bring the liquid to a boil.

Cover and adjust the heat so the mixture simmers; cook until the sprouts are just tender, 5 to 10 minutes, checking once or twice and adding liquid as needed.

Uncover the Brussels sprouts and raise the heat to boil off all the liquid so that the Brussels sprouts become glazed and eventually browned. Stir once or twice, but do not stir them frequently; just let them sizzle until golden and crisp, then shake the pan and loosen them to roll over (some sides can be more well done than others).

Adjust seasonings; serve warm or at room temp.

Empire Apple and Pear Tarts

Ingredients for Crust

4 ½ c. pastry flour

2 ¼ c. butter, cut into small pieces (4 ½ sticks)

¼ c. sugar or more

1 tsp salt

Ingredients for Filling

1 ½ lbs almond paste

9 egg yolks

1 cup sugar

1 ½ c. butter, softened (3 sticks)

Ingredients for Topping

6 Empire apples, cored and thinly sliced

6 pears, cored and thinly sliced

1 ½ c. raspberry jam mixed with a little water

Preheat oven to 350 F.

Combine crust ingredients in bowl with fingertips until the consistency of coarse bread crumbs. Add 6 -9 tbsp cold water to bind. Form into a ball and refrigerate for at least 30 mins.

Mix all filling ingredients in a mixer or food processor

Roll out dough and press into 12 3-inch tart tins. Spread filling on the bottom of each. Arrange apple and pear slices on top of filling. Brush raspberry jam over tops evenly. Bake for 25-30 mins. Cool.

Line an 8×8″ glass baking dish with parchment paper; grease well with butter.

Bring cream, butter and salt to a boil in a small saucepan. Remove from heat and set aside.

In a medium saucepan, bring sugar, corn syrup and water to a boil, stirring just until the sugar is dissolved. Then continue boiling without stirring until the mixture is a light golden color and a candy thermometer reaches 250 degrees. Don’t worry how long this takes – some recipes say it takes 10 minutes and others say up to 45 minutes. The important thing is that it reaches 250 degrees and is a light golden caramel color.

When this happens, carefully stir in the butter/cream mixture. The caramel will bubble up, so be careful. Stir constantly and continue to cook until the mixture reaches 250 degrees again.

Then pour into the prepared baking dish and let cool at least 2 hours. Sprinkle the top of the caramels with a generous amount of nice sea salt. When the mixture has set, cut into pieces with a sharp, well-oiled knife, and wrap in parchment paper.

Monday, September 27, 2010

Use the endive leaves as the base and place smoked salmon and creme fraiche in the heart of the leaf. Tie together the bit with a chive strand.

GOAT CHEESE POUCH

Filo pastry

Goat cheese

Herbs de Provence

Butter

Layer 3 sheets of filo pastry together with melted butter in between. Cut filo into 4" squares. Place a teaspoon of goat cheese in the middle of each filo square with a sprinkle of Herbs de Provence. Twist corners of filo square together to create the pouch. Bake in oven as directed for the filo pastry or until the pastry is golden brown.

MANGO LASSI

3 cups yogurt

1 ½ cupscream

3 mangos, pitted and chopped

1/3 cupsugar

pinch of cardamom

ice

Blend it for 2 minutes in the blender. Enjoy!

RAMAKI

2 CANS whole water chestnuts

1 PACKAGE bacon

¾ CUPchili sauce

1 ½ CUPSmayonnaise

1 ½ CUPSbrown sugar

Cut the bacon strips in half. Wrap each whole water chestnut with the cut strip of bacon. Secure with a toothpick. Arrange in a casserole dish.

Mix all remaining ingredients, and pour over the bacon-wrapped water chestnuts.

Make rolls:Add shrimp to a 4- to 5-quart pot of boiling salted water then reduce heat and poach shrimp at a bare simmer, uncovered, until just cooked through, about 3 minutes. Transfer shrimp with a slotted spoon to a bowl of ice and cold water to stop cooking, then return shrimp cooking water to a boil. Chill shrimp in ice water 2 minutes, then drain and pat dry. Cut each shrimp in half lengthwise, deveining if necessary.

Add noodles to boiling water and cook until just tender, about 3 minutes. Drain in a colander, then rinse under cold running water and drain well. Stir together vinegar, sugar, and salt in a large bowl until sugar is dissolved, then add noodles and toss to coat.

Put a double thickness of paper towel on a work surface and fill a shallow baking pan with warm water. Check rice-paper rounds and use only those that have no holes. Soak 1 round in warm water until pliable, 30 seconds to 1 minute, then carefully transfer to paper towels.

Arrange 3 shrimp halves (cut sides up) in a row across bottom third (part nearest you) of soaked rice paper. Spread 1/4 cup noodles on top of shrimp and arrange 3 cilantro leaves, 3 mint leaves, 8 cucumber matchsticks, 6 scallion strips, and 10 mango matchsticks horizontally on top of noodles. Fold bottom of rice paper over filling and begin rolling up tightly, stopping at halfway point. Arrange 3 more mint leaves and 3 more cilantro leaves along crease, then fold in ends and continue rolling. Transfer summer roll, seam side down, to a plate and cover with dampened paper towels. Make 7 more rolls in same manner and serve, whole or halved diagonally, with dipping sauce.

SPRING ROLL

Wonton wrappers

Pulled poached or roast chicken

Cellophane noodles

Carrots, julienned

Sesame oil

Soy sauce

Oil for frying

sauce:

Chinese black vinegar

Ginger, julienned

Mix chicken, carrots and noodles with sesame oil and soy sauce, to taste. Wrap in wonton wrappers using a dab of water to seal it together. Head oil in a pan until bubbles appear on wooden spoon. Fry spring rolls until golden brown. Serve with sauce.

AVOCADO GAZPACHO

1/2 cucumber

1 avocado

1 scallion

1 garlic clove

2 tablespoons cilantro

2 tablespoons lemon juice

1/2 cup plain yogurt

1/2 cup cold water

1/2 cup ice cubes

Jalapeno, to taste

Peel cucumber and cut into 4 pieces. Quarter avocado, removing pit and peel. Cut scallion into large pieces. Puree all ingredients in blender until smooth. Season with salt and pepper. Garnish with cilantro leaves and Parmesan crisps (grate Parmesan and bake on Silpat until crispy)

Scallops Wrapped in Kataifi

2 cups balsamic vinegar

4 extra large sea scallops

1/4 lb kataifi filo

4 tablespoons butter, melted

1 tomato, diced

1/4 cup diced scallions

1/4 cup chopped dill

1 medium shallot, sliced

1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme

1 cup white wine

1/2 lb butter, cut into small bits, thoroughly chilled

In saucepan over medium heat, simmer the vinegar until syrupy, about 30 mins.

Heat the oven to 450°F. Season the scallops with salt and pepper. Wrap each scallop in some of the kataifi filo. Arrange the scallops on a baking sheet and drizzle with the melted butter. Bake scallops about 15 mins.

Make the butter sauce: In a small saucepan, combine the shallot, thyme, and wine. Simmer until completely reduced and there is no liquid remaining. Over low heat and whisking constantly, add the butter, a few pieces at a time. Allow the butter to become creamy before adding the next few pieces. Do not boil or the butter will melt and the sauce will become oily. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Keep the sauce warm.

Place each scallop in the center of the plate. Spoon the butter sauce over the scallops. Drizzle with reduced balsamic vinegar. Sprinkle the tomatoes, scallions and dill around the scallop.

RED BEAN and BANANA CREPE

1/2 cup buckwheat flour

1/2 cup all purpose flour

1 cup milk

3/4 cup water

3 large eggs

2 tablespoons vegetable oil

Pinch of salt

3 tablespoons sugar

Red bean paste

Bananas

Combine flours, milk, water, eggs, vegetable oil, salt and sugar in a blender or whisk in a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap and let the batter sit for one hour. When ready to cook, place desired amount in a nonstick skillet until edges brown and curl up. Fill cooled crepes with a tablespoon of red bean paste and sliced banana. Wrap and store.